


Sacrifice

by mpmwrites



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon Rewrite, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 12:37:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15461529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mpmwrites/pseuds/mpmwrites
Summary: A rewrite/alternate version of "Our Hearts are Compatible"/ Battle for Detroit Revolution. Markus won't let Simon Sacrifice himself.





	Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> Please be gentle this is my first DBH fanfic!

He's been shot. He knows, rationally, he can't _feel_ pain, but his deviancy fills in the blanks with desperation and fear as he collapses out of the protection of the concrete barrier. He drags his suddenly all-too-heavy body to the next barrier, pointless though it may be. He wants to die in peace, not as he's riddled with wounds.

This isn't his first gunshot wound, but it's 82% possible that it could be his last. His systems stutter exaggeratedly, and he knows there's _nothing_ if he reaches shut down, nothing ever again. He lifts his hand from the perforation, and isn't surprised to see it streaked with blue. Pushing himself up to sit, he looks around amidst the sounds of gunfire and knows that the revolution will die with him. Jericho will fight on, and may even win this battle, but their organization will sputter and die without leadership. Josh, North, and Simon are the three points of the android badge of segregation, always equidistant and too far from each other to agree. No, they need the light to fill in the middle.

North _believes_ in their cause, but has little empathy.

Josh has the empathy, but is too passive to actuate a confrontation.

And Simon, well…. _Simon_. It’s the thought of the blonde android that he dwells on. Cautious Simon. _Safe_ Simon. Always insisting he doesn’t take risks; always begging Markus to keep everyone safe… to keep _himself_ safe.

Markus always insisted that his risks were calculated.

"Markus!" Simon slides to a crouch at his side and he struggles to keep his eyes open. He can't look- can't see that look on Simon's face, backlit by a street lamp and snow collecting on his shoulders. Behind closed lids error messages flash insistently.

_Thirium Pump Critically Damaged; Thirium Levels Critically Low; Temperature Regulation Disabled; Processing Speed 26%; Shutdown Imminent 00:01:32.61; Backup System Failure; Network Connection Disabled_

"It's okay." Simon whispers, and the other android's hands are on him. Contact. How desperately he wants to grab Simon's hand with his own thirium coated palm. "It's okay…" Simon insists, and he opens his eyes. Simon's face was immeasurably despondent. It only took eye contact to know that Simon needs him. Needs him for what? To lead? To live? To love?

 _Just come back._ Simon had entreated that night in the captain's cabin. It seems like years ago; had it only been two days? _Memory Recall Failure._ He had come back, but only to lead to this.

"You can make it without me." He reassures. _Audio Output Corruption… Stabilizing…_ Simon tries to withdraw, retreating from the risk. He grabs vaguely for the other android and catches the blonde's arm "Our cause…" _Stabilization Successful._ "Is all that matters." He needs Simon to understand, needs him to fight for all of them; make this moment more than just an end.

"No." Simon begs, and Markus knows that he's failed. Simon won't accept it, and the way he shakes his head forces his denial to become visible "No!" _Audio Processor Failure. "_ We can't win without you!" Simon begs, and then he's not touching Markus anymore, but himself, and suddenly Markus can't see what's going to happen. _Preconstruction Mode Offline; Fine Motion Control Offline; Optical Unit Failure._

"Simon, what're you doing?" _Audio Output Corruption… Stablilizing… Stabilization Failure; Shutdown Imminent 00:00:58.22._

"Our hearts are compatible." Simon explains, and Markus can hear his voice shaking. Heart; an emotional word for a cold, mechanical thing that keeps them all alive. "You have to take mine." He can't let Simon do this, because… because…

"No. Simon… no." He tries to calm the PL600 desperately, because surviving this at Simon's expense is… _worse_ than dying here.

"You're the only one that can lead us." and he knows that's true, but not at this _cost_. "You've got to live!" He pushes desperately with what little he can move to deny Simon the sacrifice.

"I can't let you do that!" And he could cry in frustration because _This is not fair._ "I don't want to lose you." Let this be his dying plea.

_Shutdown Imminent 00:00:33.47_

Footsteps again, and he knows that this is the end, because he will _not_ let Simon be the one who dies here.

"If you don't, you'll die." If Simon were human, his voice would not have been so firm or level.

"And our cause will die with you." North. It had been her footsteps. Fragmented, he could see her kneeling at his other side; her gaze locked with Simon's.

He wasn't a fool. He knew exactly how she felt, and he'd been so careful to stay distant without hurting her. He also knew now that she knew everything.

_Shutdown Imminent 00:00:19.74_

"I'm sorry." He begged her forgiveness with a breath, letting his eyes fall shut again. He thought he could see her smile. Next to his thigh, Simon's hand found his. A soft blue glow reflected on the snow where his knuckles were covered with the blonde's. Somewhere in his head he could see Simon's view of him the night they brought the parts to Jericho. Adoration, Affection, _Desire_.

_Shutdown Imminent 00:00:7.16_

"They can't do this without you." She whispered, sounding so very far away. The streetlight began to fade, and there was a distant tug at his torso followed by a echoing click coming from North's chest.

And the world was bright, and loud, and overwhelming .

_System Recovery in Process…_

_Optical Function Restored; Audio Processing Restored; Audio Output Restored; Fine Motion Control Restored; Memory Recall Restored; Temperature Regulation Enabled; Thirium Levels 34%; Processing Speed 92%; Network Connected._

He feels Simon, Simon's torrent of emotions, and pulls his hand away slowly. He lets the clouds of everything that is Simon pull from his immediate processes and turns to look at North. She's leaning against the barricade now, still.

"North, you'll die." He scrapes out. This was the sacrifice; and guilt overwhelms him. He's selfish, and it hits him like fresh bullet wounds.

"I love you…" She muses, her voice too mechanical, "But you need to lead our people…" Tears come, small drops of Thirium in the corners of her eyes, "And you need him to take care of you." Her voice slows and thins. Markus grabs at her arms, keenly aware of Simon's observation.

"I didn't want this." He begs her, as if it will change what's been done.

"Just… make it count. Remember me, remember this moment, and remember what it was all for." Her chin jerks slightly as her systems suffer thirium depravation "Free our people." She whispers, and then she's gone. Still like the construct of plastic and metal that makes up WR400 but without the life that makes _North_.

He falls back to rest on his haunches, and feels like it's a defeat no matter the outcome of the actual battle.

"Markus." Simon's voice is an attempt to soothe him along with a hand on his shoulder. He turns to Simon, non-placated, and they share a long look before he stands.

"Take her somewhere safe." he orders, and reaches for a rifle on the ground. He will win this for the life she gave. He will win this for the life he's yet to have with Simon. He will win for Carl, and Josh, and Lucy, because it's going to take nothing short of an army to hold him back.


End file.
